NYC to Bermuda Cruise: Celebrity Horizon 8/23 – 8/25/03
I am not what you would call a “cruise person”. In general I love boating. I also enjoy going to places that are by the water. In fact, if you have looked at the web site you have seen our trips to the Galapagos, Alaska, the Hudson River Charter, as well as the Sea Dream Cruise. Of the dozen or so logs I have kept you can see that boats and water played a part in many of our past trips yet we do not call ourselves cruise people. The Hudson River trip was on a 35 foot boat I chartered and captained myself for a week. The Mediterranean trip was on a 100 passenger and 90 crew 344 foot long on 5 decks. Sea Dream was more like being on a private yacht. No big shows, no formal nights, no losing at bingo. It offered everything you needed with out taking out your wallet to pay for any extras. The Alaska cruise was also on a 90 passenger ship and not a place your average cruiser would go. No late night shows but we did have 4 naturalist that served as cruise directors. Other trips at sea not on my web site included being on a 24 passenger 80 year old schooner and visiting the small islands of Maine as well as a similar size schooner and seeing the Virgin Islands. Here you got 3 good meals a day and felt and smelled the seas below you. You also went into small coves and bays where the large ships could not. Lastly, try diving off the deck on a large cruiser and you will most likely break your neck. On a small ship, jumping over board is part of the fun.
Getting back to this log…
Three years ago we had a company 25th anniversary celebration on the Grand Princess (not logged here yet). This included my parents, my brothers family of 4 and my family. We left Ft Lauderdale and traveled to St Thomas, St. Martin and the tacky Princess Cay for a week. The Grand Princess is what the islanders call a mega-ship. It held 2700 people on board during our week. I found this ship just too big. Moving the clock forward now, my Father decided that he and Mom would like to do this type of trip perhaps annually with the family. Bermuda was picked because we did not have to fly out of N.Y. and catch a boat (er, ship) elsewhere. My Mom wanted to do the easiest cruise possible and they like Bermuda and did this trip before. Cruising on this scale is also a good family thing to do because everyone can disappear during the day to do what they want and then meet up for dinner and a show. On the cruise we took 12 year old sons best friend. They had the bachelor cabin. My 15 year old daughter shared a cabin with her 14 year and 11 year old cousins. The kids were more or less gone during the days at sea and no one was concerned.
The Horizon was built in 1990. It can be called a “medium size” cruiser. It is 682 feet long and 95 feet wide. It had 10 decks of cabins, bars and stores with 2 more decks for pools, lounging and drinking. The week we were on it was 100% capacity at 1700 guests with about 670 crew.
Saturday:
Leaving New York was very pleasant. We left the dock at 5PM after watching another larger cruiser leave before us. Ships here are no different than airplanes waiting to take off. You go one at time and you do it very slowly. There were the second of four ships. Cruising down the Hudson is breathtaking. Watching the ships, water taxis, the circle line and off course the NYC skyline pass before you at about 12 miles per hour is impressive. Off course there are waiters selling their bon voyage drinks in souvenir glasses as well as the photographers wooing you into taking pictures with the skyline behind you. This is all part of the cruising fun experience. I had a somber moment when I took a few pictures of where the World Trade Center used to be. A few minutes later I had the family line up while I took pictures of the Statue of Liberty in the back ground. Next it was under the Verrazono Narrows Bridge (one of the largest suspensions bridges in the world) and off to prepare for the early seating at dinner. That night we were introduced to the people running the ship and had a taste of what the entertainment was like.
FOOD:
Food on board was plentiful. My group was eating well. Horizon has a sit down breakfast, lunch and dinner service. There is also as a very good buffet breakfast and lunch served everyday. There were always fresh fruit and wonderful deserts there. My parents and their friends did the sit down breakfast and lunch while my brother’s family and mine did the buffet. Now, if this is not enough, there is a grill that served very greasy hamburgers, turkey and veggie burgers, hot dogs, pizza and macaroni and cheese in the aft session during lunch. Also the buffet had a separate second salad station and sandwich station. If you missed lunch (or even if you did not miss lunch as was the case for many) pizza and pasta was moved inside until about 5PM and was open until 1AM. If this was not enough there was “tea” with finger sandwiches and pastries at 4PM. Sushi was served here also from 6PM to about 8PM. Seatings for dinner was 6:15 and 9PM. My parents and brother do not like to eat late so we took the early seating. By doing this you can catch the early seating of the shows on the way to and from Bermuda. My preference would usually be the later seating if I was hopping from island to island on a Caribbean cruise as to not rush the day. In Bermuda we were usually finished with our day by 3 or 4PM so this worked out fine. Going back to food... Dinner was a 5 course presentation with 14 pieces of silverware placed on your table per person. Selections included a meat, fish, pasta, poultry (chicken or duck) and a vegetarian dish. You can always order off the menu Caesar’s salad as well as anything else in advance. We tipped our maitre-d at the begging of the cruise and asked for an appetizer of sautéed shrimps one night and mushroom risotto another night. Also, one thing the ship had that was good was sour pickles at lunch. We simple asked for a plate of them and they were on the table when we arrived. Our maitre-d was great. He took a small tip the first day but when we wanted to tip him 2 days later he refused it and said if we liked the service it would be graciously accepted at the end of the cruise. Our waitress was also wonderful. We all wanted to take her home with us. Of the 6 nights we ate in the dinning room there were only a few misses on a some dishes. There were also some very good hits. For new people on cruises, getting a bad course should not be a problem. If you get something you do not like, simply order something else. In fact on two nights, just to try different things I ordered two main courses. I kidded with the waitress saying I wanted the “rudder and flutter”. I guess in South Africa where she is from the humor is different. Anyway, that night I chose both the roast duck and the sautéed fish. On lobster night I ordered a side dish of veal cordon bleu. (You could have ordered more of the lobster tails if you wanted to).
Besides the above mentioned meals, there was still more. Two of the nights there was a late night buffet. One of them was a fruit and desert theme with Caribbean style ribs and chicken thrown in for good measure. Another night has the “le grande buffet” where they have you march through the dinning room at 11:45 just to take pictures and let you attack it at 12:15AM. What I really liked was there “late night bites” At 11:30 PM about 100 waiters descended on every public area including the bars and casino with trays of hordourves. There were also a couple of carving stations around the ship. The trays had different types of foods and deserts. They were always tasty. They tempted everyone. One night before the ship was over run with these food bearers one person in our party said that if he ate anything else he would bust. 30 minutes later the trays were out and even he could not help but pick at the trays. This process ends finally around 1AM you get to start it all over again at 6:30AM for early risers coffee and danishes. I would like to say that for feeding 1300 people for 7 days the food was better than average and the service was excellent. Lastly, there was room service. The kids ordered pizza and cheese platters at 1AM while ordering a pay per view movie. When I die I want to come back as my kids!
Beverages:
There was a charge for soda, alcohol and non alcohol drinks. There was ice tea, lemonade, fruit punch, tea, water and coffee available most of the time at no charge. We bought a sticker for unlimited sodas for the boys. This is not a good deal. If we would have been better off limiting them to two sodas a day each we would have been ahead on the deal. If you like the occasional soda perhaps one member of you family can get the sticker and you can share it. You just need to go one at a time up to get it at any bar or waiter. Souvenir drinks were a little pricy, massed produced and lower in alcohol. We found regular drinks to be of reasonable charge. A Kettle One on the rocks was $5.25 plus mandatory 15% service charge. The bottled wine at the bar and restaurants were also acceptable. Bar service was excellent just as was the food service. One thing I have learned about ships is that they pay a lower labor rate for a foreign staff so they over compensate service with plenty of help. Lastly, the water was very good and there was no need to by the bottled stuff. They make there own fresh water through reverse osmosis. One reason I think all the breads were good was because of the water quality and taste.
Sunday:
Sunday was our first full day on board. Also, it was an entire day at sea. It takes the Horizon from 5PM Saturday to Monday 8AM to arrive in St George in Bermuda. During the day there are various kinds of activities to keep you busy. There are art auctions, bingo, gambling, a financial lecture, spa things, kids events, pool side games and trivia to name a few. On the first day at sea it seemed half the passengers stayed on the decks by the pool vegging out. I found a spot in the corner and worked on my last log while having a couple of cocktails and cooling off in the small pool now and then. I am the type of person that wants to get from point A to point B and see or do things. If I had to choose a cruise I would fly to one of the islands where you go from place to place each day. The days at sea to and from Bermuda were not my favorite part of the trip. Many people, including my parents and brother’s family, really like the days at sea.
Monday: St George
We arrive at St George and skip the expensive shore excursions and walking tours and head to the beach. My guide book tells me Tobacco Bay is a great beach to hang out and relax. It also tells me to walk through town and pick up the mini bus of you do not want to take the 25 minute hike in the heat. When we get to the square the mini bus line is pretty long. In order to grab a seat I signal everyone to hustle up to the bus before everyone with tickets realizes the bus was here. For this we pay a minor penalty of .50 per ticket extra making it $3.00 each. As we get to Tobacco Bay we realize that it is small, very pretty but also crowded so we stay on the bus to St Catherine’s beach. This beach is larger but does not have the rocks in the middle of the cove for snorkeling like Tobacco does. We walk down the sand to rent the last two large umbrellas and 2 sets of lounge chairs for $70! Welcome to Bermuda where things are not cheap. The beach we are on over looks Fort St Catherine and is run by a local named Chris who calls his place “Beach It!” They offer 15 minute Banana boat rides for $15, serve a less than adequate over priced lunch and has a full bar complete with volley ball net on the side. While the kids were playing in the water and some of the the adults were reading or napping I headed up to the fort. The entrance fee is $5. It allows you to walk through the powder rooms and tunnels as well as walk on top where the canons are. There are explanations on how the ammo was stored and sent up above as well has a replica of the crown jewels. The Fort has been nicely restored and the canons from 1874 are still there. A few must have been thrown off the fort because they are at the base where the water and beach starts simply rusting away. St. George is where Bermuda was first settled. The only shots fired at a potential enemy was 400 years ago when two Spanish dories from a sailing ship were shot at before they rowed back to their ship. It was a good thing they never returned as the fort used up 2/3’s of its ammo on them. A note to historian buffs; Bermuda was never conquered by anyone else and is England’s longest standing continuous colony of the new world. (In 1995 a 2/3’s rejection vote to go independent took place). After leaving the fort I noticed Achilles Beach next to it on the left. This is a pretty beach with a rock in the middle that acts as a swim platform. There is no food here but there is someone renting chairs. I would have rather stayed on this beach as it was not crowded and looked like a place to snorkel. At 3:30PM the kids wanted to go back to the ship so we sent them by a taxi. Maureen & I swan at Achilles for about a 30 minutes. The beach was nearly empty and very peaceful.
St George is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it keeps to the original flavor of the village. No tacky signs or out of place buildings. Even the electric lines are pretty low key. It was after reading this that I was anxious to see the village. After dinner we strolled through it with guide book in hand looking at all the old structures and taking great night pictures of the place. There were only 2 guide books I found in the store on Bermuda. One was mini book by Frommer’s or Fodor’s. The other was a Lonely Planet book. I picked the Lonely Planet book because if had more stories about Bermuda and the map was bigger and easier to read. Both books will fit in your pocket.
Tuesday:
I am up at 8AM watching the Horizon on its approach through the cut into Hamilton. Here, the advantage of being on a large cruise ship helps because the view 12 decks up is great and the mansions all around are impressive. Docking into Hamilton is smooth and the only noise is from the near 7 foot tall town crier swinging his bell and yelling something at us that no one can make out. Immediately after breakfast we head into Hamilton to do a walking tour using the guide book. We never know what happens when we stroll about as we always keep an open mind and eye for things. The first stop is the 1884 Cabinet building near the ship. I read you can go inside this “mini white house” looking building and walk up to the second floor and see where the leaders of Bermuda meet. After going in we are met by a receptionist who told us the Cabinet was not in session in the room but meeting upstairs in another one of the few rooms on the second floor. We tell her we only want to see the main room and promise not bother anyone or go in any of the other rooms. Next we climb the stairs and walk into the Cabinets room which is decorated by portraits of previous Premier’s and royalty from days gone buy. We also see the famous round table where affairs of state are discussed. This is also the place where President Eisenhower met Winston Churchill and the Joesph Laniel of France in December of 1953. Eisenhower also met the next Prime Minister of England 4 years later. President Kennedy and later Nixon met the Prime Minister of England here as well.
After a few photos we saw a man in typical Bermuda business clothes. He had a blue blazer, white shirt and tie, yellow shorts and blue socks just below his knees with black shoes. He looked of someone who had an official position with the government so I introduced myself and using my title of Councilman of the village where I live. (actually we are elected as Village Trustees but not councilman is easier to understand.) The gentlemen introduces himself as the First Secretary of Transportation. We tell him our interest in being here (there were no other tourists to be seen) was strictly curious coming from one government official to another. We discussed briefly the way Bermuda is run and why the past Premier was not re-elected. I complimented him on how efficient his department is in running a good ferry and bus service. He said he was waiting from someone to come out of a cabinet meeting and seemed quite pleased to chat with us. The conversation was actually going quite well until the receptionist from downstairs came up and said we had to be quiet in the hallway as to not disturb the Premier and the Ministers. All and all this was a good first stop our walking tour. Next was the Sessions Building. This is the where the House of Assembly meets. The book said we should have been able to walk in to their meeting room but the door was locked and no one was in. We then walked around and peeked our eyes through glass the doors to see court in session. There was a lady judge in robe and wig presiding with the lawyers also in old time attire on either side making there case in front of 12 jurists. We could have walked in and listened to the case but we were not dressed appropriately. It was neat to see for a short while though. Next following the guide book we went into city hall that also doubles as an art gallery. Here there was an exhibition by a lady photographer named Lee. It was quite impressive with a showing of about 100 shots from the 30’s and 40’s. In the room behind were paintings from their regular exhibition. From there we walked up to Victoria Park to see what it looks like. The guide books say tourists should not come to Victoria Street at night. Also, to use common sense in the day so we took a quick peak at the part and was about to head back when Maureen saw a lady having problems getting into her car. The lady left her keys in the ignition with the windows only down about 2 inches. Maureen of course offered my services to break in. (Hey, the boy really can not leave the Bronx). After borrowing a bungee cord from a motor scooter and an antenna from another car I was able to get the cord on the keys but could not turn or pull it off. I put the antennae and bungee cord back and realized a branch off the tree through the window pushing down on the window handle would do the trick. ( I would have thought of it sooner but when you only see cars with electric windows you tend to forget). Anyway the woman thanked us for saving her $100 for a service man to help her! Anyway, it was back to Front Street and few stores before lunch on the ship for our 4 hour snorkel trip with all the kids.
At 1:30 we took all 5 kids to the ferry boat landing meet the 54 foot Explorer for a 4 hour trip. This included an hour at a coral reef, then a glass bottom view a of couple of shipwrecks and some turtle spottings before heading through the smaller islands and back. Originally we wanted to go on the Jesse James boat as we heard it stopped at 3 places for snorkeling. When it was sold out we were recommended this boat. The Captain told us he takes us to the the best coral reef while the other boat hits 3 places for snorkeling but not the best coral reef. He said the other boats would not have time to go the 5 miles out. We saw beautiful brain coral and fans among other things. There were also lots of small fish. We even saw the parts of a canon from when a ship wrecked a few hundred years ago. The canon was barely visible and covered by hard and soft coral but you could make it out. After an hour of snorkeling about we headed back to the boat. We had a little fun with some of our group by throwing bread around them. When we did this the water churned up with these as many as 25 gray fish ranging in sizes of 12 to 18”. I threw some bread at Maureen and the fish swam into her mask and over her shoulder giving her the willies. She looked liked she was being mobbed by them. From the reef we went and parsts of two wrecks ranging from 50 to 150 years old. We saw these through two small glass panels in the stern of the boat. After this we headed to a turtle feeding area and saw 4 small ones. The captain explained that 27,000 eggs were taken from Costa Rica and replanted in the sand here to get the population back. Being it takes 40 years to reach maturity they do not know if it is working yet. The ride back took us between small islands and through scenic narrow passages. One note, the Explorer was used in the filming of the movie The Deep which was loosely based on one of the wrecks we saw. (the number of the Explorer is 236-9894 and tell him Tab from Port Washington sent you)
That night after dinner we all took a walk to the Princess Hotel and then Karaoke afterwards to hear my niece sing.
Wednesday:
We were suppose to go diving early today but my son had other plans. With out going into details he came in our cabin in pain at 6AM. At 6:30 we called my parents friend 2 cabins over who is a doctor. He had us call the medical center where both the ships doctor and our friend had us go to the King Edwards Hospital. My son is fine and he did have an emergency that could have been bad but it worked itself out. The medical care here was excellent. The people were fast and the radiology department got right on the sonogram machine to see what the matter was. From there we went to a specialist across the street who advised us on what happened and we were back on the ship for lunch. I have to say had this happened in the U.S. we would have spent most of the day dealing with this situation instead of 3 hours. Please note that you do not have to worry if you are sick in Bermuda. Bring a credit card or lots of cash as your medical insurance is no good here. You can take the bills and submit them at home.
After our ordeal and a scrubbed dive we took Daniel to Horseshoe Bay to meet my brother, Daniel’s best friend and his cousins. The beach was crowded but gorgeous. The kids loved climbing into the rock formations and hidden coves. They even found a small cave and hole big enough to crawl through if sea and surf conditions deem it save. Daniel E and Melissa both swam out to the large boulders in the bay so that Daniel can take the 15 foot plunge off the top. After a little more exploring and swimming it was back in the taxi for the ride to Hamilton and the docks. The cost of the taxi is reasonable compared to the bus. The fair for up to 4 is about $14. For 5 or 6 it is almost $17. If you take a bus the fare is $4 each way. With 2 or 3 people you save a few dollars taking the bus but it is not worth the time to go the bus stop and wait verse the minor difference in fare.
That night we did the “casual dinner” and skipped the fancy restaurant on board to speed up things because Wednesday is street vendor night. Tonight Front Street was closed down for vendors as well as stores staying open until 9PM. Prices for clothes were reasonable and there were sales all around. Some people bought small bottles of liquor at the store to sneak on board in their pockets to have cocktails. (large bottles were confiscated at the gangplank and given back to you the last night of the cruise). We did not buy any liquor in town because even with the duty free prices ships liquor store was cheaper. The vendors on the street were either food and crafts. There was also some music going on the stage. After an hour the Daniel’s were board and headed back to the ship. Maureen & I tried some fish & chips (with out the chips) from a recommended street vendor. We did not do this because we were hungry but because we were as close to British fish and chips as we were to get. The fish was excellent as he used and prepared fresh mahi or dorado in front of us. After walking around Front Street we headed to the pool level of the ship where it was “Caribbean night” on board. The private joke for me was that here they were playing Jamaican or other island theme music yet we were closer to Nova Scotia in Canada than any of the islands the place was decked out for. Tonight the waiters were offering over priced drinks put in pineapples. It was also the buffet with the marching melon heads. The waiters here took decorated watermelons and marched through out area before opening up the fruit and desert buffet with ribs and chicken for good measure. The music had to stop at 12 midnight because Bermuda does not allow open concerts of any time past that time.
Thursday:
Today we got the kids up and headed to Warwick Bay which is just west of Horseshoe Bay. We hired a taxi to drive us first through the parishes and take us to the worlds smallest draw bridge of 18”. This is a hand operated bridge where the crew of a sail boat has to get out, stop traffic, lift the bridge manually then help the mast through. Afterwards they close the small draw bridge and let traffic go before getting back on board. From here we headed back past the light house and Horseshoe Bay and getting off at Warwick Bay. Warwick is a much larger beach than Horseshoe. It had a swaying surf which just made you relax. It is not a beach for small children because the water goes shoulder height only after several steps in. For children take the sandy foot path to Jobson Cove next door or one of the other mini beaches near by. These are dramatically separated by huge rock formations. You can not get a prettier beach then this place. The only draw back is there are no services other than a public bathroom. There was no water or umbrella rentals here which is one of the reasons Horseshoe gets so much more play. On Warwick there were no more than 10 people compared to about a hundred on Horseshoe when we passed it. We only stayed here a couple of hours because the Horizon was leaving at 3:30. After returning the kids to the ship Maureen & I had enough time to go our separate ways and do a little shopping before being on the top deck and watching Bermuda sail off into the horizon.
Thursday night is the second of the formal nights. Many people did not adhere to it though. There were more people in jackets and sport shirts than suits and tuxedos. There were very few gowns worn by the ladies. On the Grand Princess the majority of people were decked up in their best. It was like going to the ball on the Grand. On the Horizon it did not seem as important. Perhaps it is a N.Y. state of mind verse the Grand Princess where people came from all over. Personally I think it is ridiculous to be dress up anyway in hot weather. Further, many people changed after dinner even though the request was to stay in dinner attire for the evening. I like many others changed into shorts. Tonight was also “le grande buffet” which was mentioned earlier. Just when you were full there was duck, lobster, beef Wellington and tons of deserts and cheeses. We had to roll into our cabin at 1 AM.
Friday:
The last day at sea for me was uneventful except for losing at bingo again. The good news is that we all slept until 11 that morning. The girls woke up even later. That afternoon the boys were just walking about not doing anything particular and I had no clue what the girls were doing. I took a spot in the shade and was working on my pictures. Maureen found a place in the sun to read. At 4PM I met my parents and their friends for a more formal “high tea” in the dinning room. I had to change to long pants but kept my water sandals. They tried to stop me from going in but let me when I said I was just meeting my parents for a few minutes. I figured once I sat down no one would look under the table clothes to see my toes exposed. The finger sandwiches and deserts were good. I would not call it traditional high tea when they use a variety of tea bags. Loose tea in a the pot would have been nicer and better tasting.
The difference between a class act and one that can use improvement is making a big deal out of minor things. At other fine resorts or places I have been to certain things were the norm for them where comments were not needed. The below was pointed out by the cruise director on a few occasions as well as in the comments section of our questionnaire.
- Cold towels (most of the time) when you went on the ship after a shore excursion
- Sherbet passed out on the pool deck in the middle of the day.
- At the Captain's party they only served cheap wine
- At the Captain's Club party which was right between the two servings you had to drink their mixed drinks or nothing. If it was indeed a special meeting an open bar would have showed a little more class
I do not understand why we need hear an announcement at the pool with such fan fare saying something like “ now ladies and gentlemen, and now your free sherbet”.It is nice to have, just serve it. In the evening the cruise director would make some speech and say something like “did you all enjoy your cold towels when you boarded?” It is as if they needed to remind us about or as if anyone would say, no I hated the refreshing towels which were not served all the time. Yes, they are nice touches other ships do not have but they are not the "Oh my God I have to take this ship because of cold towels and sherbet!"
Saturday AM:
I am up at 5:30AM in the dark haze trying to make out the Verrazano Bridge. There are only a few of us out and all we see is passing freighters near the ship. As the sky turns from dark to gray we can make out Coney Island and the bridge. By 6:15 AM there are about 20 of us not including the loud teenagers that stayed up all night sailing under the bridge. The sun is not up and we can barely see lower the tops of the buildings in lower Manhattan along with the Statue of Liberty. The sky starts to lighten as we pass lower Manhattan. The river is as calm as glass. Around 34th street we pick up our escort tug boat and make our way past the aircraft carrier Intrepid and a dead slow. With thrusters on, the bow pulls to the right next to the dock and we glide to a stop.
It is not 7AM and too early to wake the kids and wife up so I take 14 laps or two miles on the deck. We all decide to pass on the breakfast buffet for the first time and do the sit down breakfast. For me it is tea, banana pancakes and corn beef hash. Tomorrow at home it will be a cup of tea and perhaps an Italian cookie as the eating fest will end.
All in all Horizon is a nice manageable ship and Bermuda was a beautiful place to visit.